Disability Support Worker Pay Rate 2026-27
Disability support work is covered by the SCHADS Award, which carries two separate scales for it. Which one applies turns on where the support is delivered, and the gap between them is wide enough to matter on every payslip.
The short answer
A disability support worker doing social and community services work is paid from $27.55 an hour at level 1, pay point 1. With a Certificate III at level 2, pay point 1 the rate is $36.22 an hour or $1,376.49 a week, because the equal remuneration order applies from level 2 upward. Support delivered inside a client’s own home is paid on the separate home care scale instead, which runs from $27.28 to $35.81 an hour and is not covered by that order.
Award floor
$27.55
Level 1, pay point 1, an hour
Top of the levels shown
$50.25
Level 4, pay point 4, an hour
Casual, at the floor
$34.44
Includes the 25% loading
Take-home a year
$46,498
$1,788 a fortnight, at the floor
These are legal minimums set by a modern award, not a market average. This site does not publish average or advertised salaries, because the number that matters on a payslip is the floor an employer cannot go below. Many employers pay more, and an enterprise agreement can set a higher rate again.
Disability support rates, level by level.
Two scales, both from the SCHADS Award, both current. Read the section below the tables before deciding which one your own work sits on.
Social and community services, levels 1 to 4
1 July 2026 · PR799380
Schedule B of the award. This is the scale for disability support delivered as a community service: supported independent living, day programs, community access and outreach. Levels 5 to 8 exist but are program management and senior professional roles rather than support work.
| Classification | Weekly | Hourly | Casual hourly | Take-home a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1, pay point 1 | $1,046.90 | $27.55 | $34.44 | $46,498 |
| Level 1, pay point 2 | $1,080.60 | $28.44 | $35.55 | $47,690 |
| Level 1, pay point 3 | $1,119.10 | $29.45 | $36.81 | $49,051 |
| Level 2, pay point 1equal remuneration order, 123% | $1,376.49 | $36.22 | $45.28 | $58,153 |
| Level 2, pay point 2equal remuneration order, 123% | $1,419.79 | $37.36 | $46.70 | $59,684 |
| Level 2, pay point 3equal remuneration order, 123% | $1,462.96 | $38.50 | $48.13 | $61,210 |
| Level 2, pay point 4equal remuneration order, 123% | $1,501.95 | $39.53 | $49.41 | $62,589 |
| Level 3, pay point 1associate diploma/advanced certificate · equal remuneration order, 126% | $1,538.59 | $40.49 | $50.61 | $63,885 |
| Level 3, pay point 2equal remuneration order, 126% | $1,582.94 | $41.66 | $52.08 | $65,453 |
| Level 3, pay point 33 year degree · equal remuneration order, 126% | $1,616.71 | $42.55 | $53.19 | $66,647 |
| Level 3, pay point 44 year degree · equal remuneration order, 126% | $1,649.97 | $43.42 | $54.28 | $67,823 |
| Level 4, pay point 1equal remuneration order, 132% | $1,774.74 | $46.70 | $58.38 | $72,235 |
| Level 4, pay point 2equal remuneration order, 132% | $1,821.07 | $47.92 | $59.90 | $73,873 |
| Level 4, pay point 3equal remuneration order, 132% | $1,867.93 | $49.16 | $61.45 | $75,530 |
| Level 4, pay point 4equal remuneration order, 132% | $1,909.51 | $50.25 | $62.81 | $77,000 |
Home care, disability care
1 July 2026 · PR799380
Schedule E of the award, for support provided to a person with disability in their own home. The equal remuneration order does not reach this scale, which is why it sits lower at every comparable level.
| Classification | Weekly | Hourly | Casual hourly | Take-home a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1, pay point 1 | $1,036.80 | $27.28 | $34.10 | $46,141 |
| Level 2, pay point 1 | $1,096.60 | $28.86 | $36.08 | $48,256 |
| Level 2, pay point 2 | $1,104.10 | $29.06 | $36.33 | $48,521 |
| Level 3, pay point 1certificate 3 | $1,119.10 | $29.45 | $36.81 | $49,051 |
| Level 3, pay point 2 | $1,153.70 | $30.36 | $37.95 | $50,275 |
| Level 4, pay point 1 | $1,221.00 | $32.13 | $40.16 | $52,655 |
| Level 4, pay point 2 | $1,245.40 | $32.77 | $40.96 | $53,517 |
| Level 5, pay point 1degree or diploma | $1,309.20 | $34.45 | $43.06 | $55,773 |
| Level 5, pay point 2 | $1,360.80 | $35.81 | $44.76 | $57,598 |
Hourly figures are the weekly rate over 38 ordinary hours. Take-home is an estimate for a single Australian resident for tax purposes with no study loan debt and no Medicare levy surcharge, worked out with the same Wage Calculator used across this site. Superannuation is paid by your employer on top of these rates and is never deducted from them.
Which SCHADS scale covers your work.
The Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (MA000100) covers disability support work, and it does so through more than one schedule. The award classifies by the service being delivered, not by the words on a contract, so two people who both call themselves disability support workers can sit on different scales lawfully.
Schedule B covers social and community services work. Most NDIS support work sits here: supported independent living, community participation, day programs and outreach. Schedule E covers home care, which is support provided to a person in their own residence, such as personal care and domestic assistance as part of a home care service.
The distinction carries real money because of the equal remuneration order PR525485. It applies to the social and community services and crisis accommodation classifications only, and the award states the order’s rate is the employee’s ordinary rate of pay for all purposes. It does not apply to home care. That is the single most common error in published SCHADS figures: one scale is quoted as though it covered both.
Within a scale, your level is set by qualification, the degree of direction you work under, and whether you supervise others. Your pay point normally advances one step for each twelve months of experience until you reach the top of the level. If your duties have outgrown your classification, that is a reclassification question, and it is worth raising separately from a pay question.
Every classification in this award, including the ones this page leaves out, is listed on the SCHADS Award Pay Rates page.
Where these figures come from.
Provenance
Verified- Award
- Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (MA000100)
- Effective from
- 1 July 2026
- Consolidated to
- 2026-09-01
- Determinations
- PR799380, PR813674
- Retrieved
- 6 September 2026
- Ordinary hours
- 38 a week
Every rate above was read from the award text at the Fair Work award library and nothing on this page is copied from another pay site. Rates change from the first full pay period on or after the effective date, so a payslip covering the changeover can lawfully carry the older figure for part of the period.
What this page does not cover.
Listed as plainly as what it does, because a rate page that hides its gaps is how the wrong number ends up on a payslip.
Penalty rates
Evening, weekend, public holiday, overtime and shiftwork loadings are set separately in the award and are not in these tables.
Sleepovers and broken shifts
Both carry their own allowance under the award. The figures are on the SCHADS award page rather than here.
Travel and vehicle allowance
Kilometres driven between clients attract a separate allowance, which was varied part-way through this financial year.
Enterprise agreements
A registered agreement can set higher rates and different conditions. Where one applies, it displaces the award rate, and it may not be published anywhere public.
Crisis accommodation
Crisis assistance and supported housing has its own four-level scale in the same award, published on the award page.
Market or advertised pay
This page publishes the award floor only. It is not an average, a median, or what a given employer or NDIS provider actually offers.
Disability Support Worker Pay Rate questions, answered.
What is the hourly rate for a disability support worker in Australia?
Under the social and community services scale of the SCHADS Award, a disability support worker starts at $27.55 an hour at level 1, pay point 1. A worker with a Certificate III doing the same work at level 2, pay point 1 is paid $36.22 an hour, because an equal remuneration order lifts every classification from level 2 upward. Support delivered in a client's own home sits on the separate home care scale, which starts at $27.28 an hour.
Why do published disability support worker rates differ so much?
Most of the difference is two things. The SCHADS Award contains two scales that both cover disability work, and the home care scale is materially lower than the social and community services scale. On top of that, an equal remuneration order (PR525485) raises the social and community services rate above the minimum weekly wage printed in clause 15 of the award, so the clause 15 figure on its own understates what the role is actually paid.
What is the casual rate for a disability support worker?
A casual is paid one thirty-eighth of the weekly rate for their classification plus a loading of 25 per cent. At social and community services level 1, pay point 1 that is $34.44 an hour, and at level 2, pay point 1 it is $45.28 an hour. The loading is paid instead of annual leave, paid personal leave and notice of termination, which casuals do not receive.
What level should a disability support worker be on?
Your level is set by your qualifications, how much direction you work under and whether you supervise anyone, not by your job title. A new worker with no formal qualification generally starts at level 1. A Certificate III in Individual Support and work under general guidance points to level 2. Level 3 applies where you hold an advanced certificate, associate diploma or degree and exercise professional judgement, and level 4 where you co-ordinate a service or supervise other staff. Within your level you normally move up one pay point for each twelve months of experience.
Do NDIS price limits set what a support worker is paid?
No. NDIS price limits cap what a provider may charge a participant for a support. They are not a wage, they include the provider’s overheads and margin, and no part of the NDIS pricing arrangements displaces the award. The lawful minimum for the worker is the SCHADS rate for their classification, plus any penalty rates and allowances the award adds.
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